When a group of straight male students were given a story about a protagonist like themselves, but who was revealed late in the story to be gay, they showed more empathy to the character (and were less likely to stereotype him) than were students who knew the character was gay – or was straight – from the start. Results were similar when white readers read stories about black characters. Publishers already know (or sense) this, but catch hell when they act on it.
Month: May 2012
Beyond L.A.’s Giant Rock: The Logistics Of Getting A Henry Moore Sculpture Into A London Gallery
“The epic seriousness, the male and female interplay, the weathered air of age: Henry Moore’s Large Two Forms evoke all these things in their first ever indoor show at the Gagosian Gallery in London. Yet they also pose a rather mundane question: how on earth did that get in here? Extremely carefully, is the short answer.”
Read Ernest Hemingway’s Reporting For The Toronto Star
“The legendary writer’s reporting from the Toronto Star archives, featuring historical annotations by William McGeary, a former editor who researched Hemingway’s columns extensively for the newspaper, along with new insight and analysis from the Star‘s team of Hemingway experts.”
Meet ‘The New Elizabethans’
To celebrate Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, BBC Radio 4 listeners and a panel of historians and writers selected 60 of the Queen’s subjects (i.e., from the Commonwealth, not just the UK) who had the greatest impact on the 60 years of her reign.
Alain De Botton Wants To Make Pornography Better
Says the philosopher of his latest project, which will be based at a website called “Better Porn”, “Ideally, porn would excite our lust in contexts which also presented other, elevated sides of human nature – in which people were being witty, for instance, or showing kindness, or working hard or being clever – so that our sexual excitement could bleed into, and enhance our respect for these other elements of a good life.”
US Supreme Court Lets $675K File-Sharing Fine Stand
“The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal … effectively let[ting] stand a jury’s $675,000 damages award against Joel Tenenbaum, a former Boston University student who admitted to downloading some 30 songs on the unlicensed file-sharing service Kazaa.”
Waterstones To Sell Amazon Kindles And E-Books
“Waterstones has announced a surprise tie-up with Amazon that will enable shoppers to pluck ebooks as well as physical books from its shelves.”
Russian State Library Stumbles Upon Giant Cache Of Pre-Revolutionary Literature
“A treasure trove of pre-revolutionary books and magazines has been discovered in the archives of the Russian State Polytechnical Museum Library in Moscow.” The materials, hidden behind false walls, were found as the library prepares for renovations.
Sydney’s Creating Its Own Large-Scale Musicals, But Lacks Theatres To House Them
“No longer middle managers of the syndicated variety, Australian producers are developing and staging significant commercial vehicles of their own: Dr Zhivago last year, Strictly Ballroom next. But where to put them? Sydney’s disgraceful record of pulling down, burning down or neglecting its historic theatres leaves it with a dearth of older-style venues to take these larger shows.”
Topless Dancers In Paris Strike For Better Pay
“Topless dancers at Parisian cabaret Crazy Horse are negotiating with management over pay after strike action caused the show to be cancelled twice. The dancers work six nights a week earning €2,000 a month.”